


Add insult to injury

by Kuripuri



Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 4
Genre: Anger, Business Meeting, Gen, Hate, Other, Sexism, Swearing, Women In Power, argument, condescending men, diplomatic disputes, do no harm but take no shit, goddamn motherfucking general of the minutemen, vague insults
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-22
Updated: 2016-08-22
Packaged: 2018-08-10 11:14:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7842721
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kuripuri/pseuds/Kuripuri
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Maxson proposes an engagement between the Brotherhood of Steel and the Minutemen but Nora ain't having it. </p><p>I don't have any beef with the fics where Maxson is the ultimate powerdaddy (you do you, no judging) but honestly, I hate the guy. I hate him so much.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Add insult to injury

**Author's Note:**

> This fic isn't the greatest, I'm not very happy with it. It ends kinda quickly but I don't really know how else to end it. It's still practice, right? Constructive criticism on the text is appriciated.  
> my tumblr; tyvian-whaler.tumblr.com

She had gotten an invitation to join Elder Maxson aboard prydwen for a meeting of sorts. The description had been vague but she had come to understand that it would be to discuss and describe their alliance, to tailor their combined forces for the benefit of the commonwealth and their shared goal towards dealing with the institute.  
  
Though it had roused her suspicion that she had been asked to come alone, to meet with Maxson alone and not with his board of advisors, giving her the impression that there was more at stake. It was true that the Brotherhood of Steel was a formidable force to be reckoned with, although she knew they needed the Minutemen just as much as they needed the Brotherhood, if not more. She suspected that he'd ask for more resources, stretching the already strained storage to its limit.  
  
Winter was on its way and if the Brotherhood decided that they needed the food more than the settlements they had the power to take it with force. And the storages that had been filling up in preperation had already begun dwindling to supply the troops. This meeting was necessary for both of them.  
  
Nora was led through the metal catwalks by a scribe until she reached Maxsons office. The air inside the metal cocoon felt fresh and cold and yet it laid heavy on her. She felt unwelcome and uncomfortable. Maxson eventually opened the door, taking his time to assert dominance she assumed, and she strode inside after a quick 'hello'. They exchanged pleasantries while she took a seat infront of the desk, crossing her legs in prewar fashion.  
  
There was a gleam in his eyes that instantly put her on her guard, as if he had an ace up his sleeves. Foolishly she had put her comfort above her safety, donning only her generals coat over a tshirt and jeans and while she never went anywhere without her trusty 10mm and a switchblade tucked in her socks, her beloved gauss rifle was still at the Castle.  
  
Initially she had grabbed it without a second thought but ultimately she had decided to show up in good faith, as unarmed as anyone would be without being stupid. They sat in a strained silence, sizing eachother up, until Maxson cleared his throat.  
  
"I apologize for the absence of the advisors and that you were requested to come alone. I assure you, they won't be necessary today."  
  
Nora remained silent even when he was clearly expecting a reply of some sort. She was not a big talker and found it annoying and inane when people would deliberately be vague so that you had to ask them to explain further. Instead she continued to stare at him, raising her eyebrows ever slightly to coax him to go on. He cleared his throat again before he continued.  
  
"I don't know what you're expecting out of this meeting but I assume you have points to make or you wouldn't have agreed to come. Let's get them out of the way, shall we?"  
  
Nora quickly had to suppress a scowl. The safety and longevity of the settlements was not something to 'get out of the way' but she was already stressed out and wanted to go back home.  
  
"Well, I want you to consider rationing your troops. I get that you're doing hard work out there but if my settlements are meant to thrive, we can't keep giving away supplies to you. Not saying we will cease the exchange. I enjoy our cooperation, your training programs have done wonders for our militia, but we can't afford to keep it up if this keeps going the direction it is."  
  
Her words sounded unsofisticated compared to Maxsons eloquence but she had no diplomatic training nor was she honestly interested in appearing as if she knew more than she spoke. His blue eyes was staring holes into her but she met his gaze with equal force. Had this been a year ago she would've succumbed to his dominant nature but that had been a different time and she had been a different woman.  
  
"Alright. I'll make sure my troops make due with what they're given. Anything else?"  
  
She instinctively narrowed her eyes. That had been a little too easy, hadn't it? The Brotherhood was filled with arrogance and she knew they didn't give the Minutemen a second glance and yet he had easily given his word. Though for all she knew that was all it was, his word. Something else was happening and it was making her skin crawl.  
  
"Yeah. Stop harassing my ghouls." Maxson subtly tensed up but she noticed it. She was almost relieved he had an actual human reaction to something. "And stop hunting synths among my settlers. I don't want a conflict between us but if your soldiers keep making shit harder for my settlers I have no choice but allow them to retaliate."  
  
This made him scoff and she almost bared her teeth. Nora felt the frustration grow like a cancer in her. She hated him, hated the Brotherhood and everything it stood for and she hated that she had to cooperate. Had the alternative not been a risk for a full out war she would've told them to fuck off a long time ago but she had people to protect.  
  
"I will not tell you how to run your settlements, but the brotherhood is here to save the Commonwealth. To cleanse the land of corruption and filth, of which ghouls and synths came from. You cannot fault my soldiers for wanting a better life for your people."  
  
"With all due respect, Elder", _and none of it is due_ , she thought, "I have 15 settlements under my protection and I got them all without you. I built them all without you. I poured my heart and soul into building safe communities around the Commonwealth and the only thing corrupting that are your soldiers harassing my settlers."  
  
Maxson leaned back in his chair, a smirk on his lips. Something told her that he had underestimated her and she was, somehow, pleasantly surprising him by her boldness. She didn't like the look in his eyes.  
  
"I'm not asking you for the world here, man, I'm not even asking you. I'm _telling_ you to get your lackeys to leave my settlers in peace."  
  
A moment of silence ensued and she watched him touch his chin, as if he was in deep thought. His piercing eyes never left hers, however, and she knew that whatever he was thinking about wasn't the issue she had presented. He took a deep breath before he replied.  
  
"I will tell my men to cease their protocol and to leave your... people alone. If it would please you."  
  
Nora was frowning deeply now and she could do nothing but stare at the man infront of her. ' _If it would please her_ '? What the fuck did that mean? The next words she spoke were spoken with caution, as if the wrong word could make a bomb go off inside the office.  
  
"Yeah... Why did you ask me here?"  
  
Maxson straightened his back, placed his hands on the desk and laced his fingers together. The tension in the air thickened and even in her casual clothing she felt smothered. The walls around them began moving closer in her peripheral view and she assumed she'd just been staring too long but she couldn't tear her eyes away from him when he began speaking.  
  
"I wish to propose an arrangement. Personally, between you and I and officially, between the Brotherhood and the Minutemen. I think it would benefit us both greatly to engage in an unbreakable union, to unite both our factions."  
  
Nora turned her head slightly and looked at him from the side, as if it would somehow break a spell and show him for who he truly was. She was still frowning and while she did prefer to have a blank face, a frown was neutral enough to not expose the turmoil in her head.  
  
"Meaning?"  
  
He seemed to think her caution was amusing, smiling softly to himself.  
  
"Meaning I propose a marriage between you and I."  
  
The shock initially left her dumbfounded, but the more the thought seeped into her the more she started to smile until suddenly her chest was heaving and shoulders were shaking with laughter. Her laugh was by no means as beautiful or gracious as it had been at one point, instead she was shouting 'haha' and inside the metal balloon her laughter echoed and reverberated through the hull. It wouldn't surprise her if people on the other side of the ship heard her.  
  
She was laughing so hard that tears filled up her eyes and the tension that had previously kept her limbs stiff evaporated with the laughter. The mere suggestion was absurd. To think that only a year ago she had been a stay-at-home mother, taking care of a baby and a husband with PTSD while under the threat of great atomic annihilation, and now she was sitting inside a flying metal balloon as the general of a militia in the postapocalypse, getting hit on by a man far too young for her with power far too much for him.  
  
Maxson seemed to enjoy her reaction, though he mistook it for something like joy. He unfolded his hands and leaned back once more, smiling as he took in the sight. Nora didn't take nearly as much care of her appearance as she used to but she was still a beauty. Combined with her status as the general and the savior of the commonwealth she was a well sought-after woman.  
  
When her laughter began to die down and she wiped the tears from her eyes on the sleeves of her generals coat, he offered her a can of purified water. She declined by raising her hand, still breathing deeply after the attack. He looked at her, waiting for a response, and she took a moment to compose herself.  
  
There was no way he didn't have a hidden agenda. They already had an alliance and the Brotherhood already got everything they needed from the settlements, there was nothing real for them to gain. The Minutemen didn't need the union either. Nora took care of her people and every person was trained to defend themselves properly. Every settlement were more or less selfsufficient, only using the supplyline to create variation in their inventory and to keep everything vibrantly alive. No, there was something else he wasn't telling her.  
  
"And why would we get hitched?"  
  
Her smile stayed on her lips but any hint of lightness was once again gone, leaving her to coldly stare back at him. Maxson was probably taken aback by her change but he didn't let her see, bracing himself behind a wall of steel and formulating his response. Nora understood that this was a battle but the enemy had a weapon in the shadows and until she knew the impact she couldn't retaliate. She could only wait.  
  
"It would be beneficial for both of us to have an official alliance instead of one of just promises and favors. If we were to wed we would have an unbreakable bond that could radically change the Commonwealth for the better. We could be unstoppable."  
  
Nora raised her eyebrows and nodded, feigning interest in his proposal. There was no fucking way this shit was gonna fly but she couldn't understand his interest in it.  
  
"We're good now too, though. I mean, the Brotherhood seems to know what it's doing and my Minutemen are pretty solid as well. We don't really have to go that far."  
  
"Are you saying you'd rather let the Commonwealth fall to ruins rather than marry me?"  
  
She smiled widely again. What a man. What a delightfully arrogant man.  
  
"Are you saying you'd destroy the Commonwealth if I don't comply?"  
  
Her response seemed to startle him. People knew who she was and where she'd come from. She was the pre-war vaultdweller, _the popsicle_ , but anything other than that fell on deaf ears. A few people had asked her what her life had been like and she had responded honestly but aside from a few ghouls, no one seemed to give a damn that she had a graduated as a lawyer, trained in the art of argument. Not only that but she had lived in the capital of capitalism and she knew a salespitch when she heard one. Now she just had to know what he was selling.  
  
"You appear to be wary of me. I assure you, I am not a bad man. I only want what is best for the Commonwealth, same as you."  
  
"Cut the shit, Maxson. What do you get out of it? What do you want?"  
  
They stared for an uncomfortable moment until he sighed.  
  
"I'd get a beautiful, smart wife and a mother to my children. Could a man ask for anything more?"  
  
Nora narrowed her eyes again, studying him. He didn't seem to be lying but it still made little to no sense for him to ask her. Maybe it was simply convenience but she knew that he wasn't dumb enough to not know that she disliked him. It wasn't practical when he had hundereds of women under his command that he could start a family with.  
  
Maybe he was trying to get her to resign as the general, let the Minutemen get crushed under the feet of the Brotherhood. Though there was also no need for that, if the Brotherhood decided a surprise attack they could easily take the Minutemen out. It seemed to be too complicated if he just wanted to get rid of her.  
  
The only thing she had that no one else did was the DNA in her body and as soon as it clicked she felt herself turn cold. Her DNA. Of course. Why would he care about anything else? He loved to remind people of his wonderful heritage and what better way to honor it than getting prewar genes mixed into it. She couldn't stop the scowl from appearing and while she knew the implications she didn't want to hide it. People walked on eggshells around the Great Elder Maxson but she was the Goddamn Motherfucking General and people had more reason to fear her.  
  
"Unbelievable..." she muttered under her breath. The fury that soared through her body made her arm twitch to reach for her gun to give him a third lead eye but the idea of slowly squeezing the life out of him, fingers tightly cramped around his throat, kept her calm enough to only grit her teeth.  
  
Maxson must've understood how dangerously close she was to launch herself across the desk to dig her nails into his eyes as he began to speak cautiously.  
  
"We can both benefit from this. There is safety in the Brotherhood, you wouldn't have to live in fear. You wouldn't have to work so hard everyday and throw yourself in danger to protect some wastelanders, you could be comfortable."  
  
"This is... This- This is some bullshit." Nora was forcing herself to take deep breaths and she had to take a great deal of care not to lunge at him. She laughed but it was without joy, it was cold and filled with bitterness.  
  
"Why wouldn't you want this? I can protect you, the Brotherhood can protect you. It's only a matter of time before we find a way into the institute and once we do we will deal with the evil that is staining this land. The Minutemen can rest, they're not-"  
  
"I swear to god, if you don't shut up right now..."  
  
Nora stood up abruptly and sent the chair flying backwards. The anger within her raged and she felt the stress turn her insides around like a whirlpool, all she wanted to do was smash his face against the wall. Instead she forced herself to pace around the room, letting small amounts of steam out of her with each step.  
  
"Nora, please..." he tried but she exploded as soon as he opened his mouth.  
  
"I'm the _fucking_ _General_ and you will adress me as such!"  
  
Maxson was startled and he remained frozen midsentence. He probably wasn't used to people not worshipping his farts and while she knew he hadn't gotten to where he was just by his name, she refused to acknowledge he was anything but a little man. A tiny insignificant bug of a man. Nora couldn't keep her breaths slow and steady and soon she felt herself get lightheaded.  
  
"You don't even-... you don't even care about the wife part, or the family. You just want my genes. Seriously? The things I've done, the shit I've gone through it's just nothing, it's just static to you, right? What the fuck."  
  
"I am offering you a piece of your past, isn't that something you want? The comfort of the life you used to have, as a wife and a mother?"  
  
"I am _not_ a wife, I am _not_ a mother! I was but I am no more and if you don't even understand the basic principles of what a family means, then I can't even take you seriously!"  
  
She placed a hand on her face, as if attempting to keep herself together. The stress of being in Brotherhood territory combined with the insults he had showered her in left her too exhausted to argue much longer.  
  
"Look." She was speaking softer than before, her throat burning from the shouting. "I don't know where you get off thinking you can talk to me like that, as either a woman or the General but this meeting is over and your proposal has been denied. I'm not yours to breed. I'm a human fucking being."  
  
"Don't be hasty, General. This is beneficial for both of us. Yes, I singled you out due to your untarnished genetics but you would mother the next heir to the most formidable army in the wasteland. I understand you might need some time to think about it but-..."  
  
"You reduced me to nothing but my genitals and my DNA, completely disregarding my accomplishments and achievements. If you don't understand how utterly insulting that is then you must have your head even further up your ass than I thought."  
  
"General, please..."  
  
"No, just shut up. I've spent the past year mourning the loss of everyone and everything I knew while fighting tooth and nail to make a difference in the rubble that was left behind by men like you. Ok? Men exactly as arrogant and conceited like you.  
  
Do you know how often I see a skeleton on the ground and I wonder, did I know them? Do you have any idea how many times I walk through Boston, reminiscencing about how it used to look before it fell apart? How many times I dream that the world is still fine, the war never happened, only to wake up and find it in ruins all over again?  
  
And I've done all of this, for a year, while doing what I can to help the people around here, to build homes with them. I've been shot at, I've had panic attacks, I've been close to bleeding out more times than I can count but the only thing you see when you look at me is the possibility of a mutationfree offspring. Not even a child, an offspring."  
  
He appeared to understand his defeat and made no attempt to stop her. At least he had some humility and could take as good as he could give. For a moment she considered that he could have been a great man if not for his last name.  
  
"This meeting was a joke. Our alliance was already strained and now it's barely hanging by a thread. You have not only insulted me personally, you have insulted all of the Minutemen and the sacrifices we have suffered. As of now we will no longer support your troops in the field, nor will we cooperate in any mission your soldiers might be sent on.  
  
We are not enemies, however, don't get me wrong. The minutemen and the settlements under my protection won't interfere with your business but let this be clear; stay away from my people."  
  
Nora had composed herself and the anger had subsided. It left her feeling oddly empty. Maxson had only stared at her, donning his usual frown and while she had a nagging fear that she had made a mistake by breaking off the alliance, continuing it would've been a show of weakness. She had only kept the alliance alive out of good faith anyway but he had utterly insulted her and she had to retaliate.  
  
"I understand. I offer you my sincere apologies."  
  
At least he respected her leadership, she thought, until his mouth opened again.  
  
"But breaking up our preexisting alliance is a mistake that you can't afford to make."  
  
She scoffed. The familiar anger seeped back into her but she was ontop of it this time.  
  
"Man, fuck you."  
  
Maxson stood up, hands firmly planted on the desk, and she could tell he was prepared to give a speech of his own. There was a moment of hesitation where Nora considered letting him speak, to see his side of it and be a true leader but she felt so tired. It wasn't like she didn't really know what he was going to say anyway. He took a sharp breath to speak but she was quicker.  
  
"No. Fuck you. You need the alliance more than I do, my people can survive and defend themselves on their own and I know that 'cause you weren't always here, were you? My people are both farmers and soldiers but you only have soldiers.  
  
I don't want a war with you and that's why I'm gonna stay out of your way but you can't possibly say you want to protect the people while you're shooting them. When you find a way to apologise sincerely and not because the situation calls for it, I'll reconsider the trade. Until then, we're done."  
  
Maxson scowled. He was fuming and she knew it, and to say she didn't revel in it would be a lie. She had spent so long catering to men, coddling them and sacrificing herself to support them that moments like this was like a high to her.  
  
"This isn't over! You must allow me to explain what-"  
  
"I _must_ do jack shit! You can't win all the battles, Maxson. Don't be a sore loser."  
  
She went for the exit and swung the door open and as she stepped outside to leave the angry little man alone in his fortress she casually sang over her shoulder.  
  
"Oh and by the way, if you're really desperate for an heir to this heap of garbage you call the Brotherhood, might I suggest you grow a womb and go fuck yourself."  
  
Noras bitter laughter echoed once more in the hull of the ship as she left to board a vertibird to take her home to her castle.


End file.
